Meet the Fly-Onesies! British Women's Win Gold at World Parachuting Championship
- 2 years ago
A team of British women who won gold at the World Parachuting Championships with their stunning skydive routine have been dubbed the Fly-onesies.
Anna Hicks, 39, Cath Anderson, 35, Vana Parker, 47, and Sian Stokes, 34, dedicated years of 'blood, sweat and tears' to the dive.
The group won gold in the female 4-way skydive at the FAI World Parachuting Championships 2022.
Their 35-second descent involving a set of various formations - filmed by their cameraman Simon Brentford.
The competition took place in Arizona, USA and the quartet bought home the gold medal on October 26.
Anna said: 'It's been the culmination of so many years of hard work and dedication and time spent away from loved ones.
'We've been through so much together and shared so much blood, sweat and tears this year which I think is part of the success of our team dynamic.'
Anna has worked alongside Vana since 2015, Sian joined the squad in 2016 followed by Cath in 2017.
They only have one sponsor and have had to invest thousands between them for their training budget.
Sian is the only member of the team who works as a full-time skydiver.
Cath, who works for the NHS, is the only one of the women who doesn't work on a freelance basis and has had to use all of her annual leave to be able to train.
The women do intensive 5-7 day jump camps once or twice a week and wind tunnel training one or two days a week.
Anna, an army medic from Colling Bourne Ducis, Wilts, added: 'I'm on the outside at the front so I have to hold onto the outside of the plane whizzing along at 90 miles per hour, it's quite windy out there, you just have to repeat to yourself 'stay strong'.'
Anna started skydiving when she was an army medical student and was inspired by the iconic Point Break scene where Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves free-fall out of a plane for three minutes.
She continued: 'I thought that's cool - I want to do that.'
No stranger to Hollywood glitz and glamour, Sian and Anna worked with Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible 6.
Anna Hicks, 39, Cath Anderson, 35, Vana Parker, 47, and Sian Stokes, 34, dedicated years of 'blood, sweat and tears' to the dive.
The group won gold in the female 4-way skydive at the FAI World Parachuting Championships 2022.
Their 35-second descent involving a set of various formations - filmed by their cameraman Simon Brentford.
The competition took place in Arizona, USA and the quartet bought home the gold medal on October 26.
Anna said: 'It's been the culmination of so many years of hard work and dedication and time spent away from loved ones.
'We've been through so much together and shared so much blood, sweat and tears this year which I think is part of the success of our team dynamic.'
Anna has worked alongside Vana since 2015, Sian joined the squad in 2016 followed by Cath in 2017.
They only have one sponsor and have had to invest thousands between them for their training budget.
Sian is the only member of the team who works as a full-time skydiver.
Cath, who works for the NHS, is the only one of the women who doesn't work on a freelance basis and has had to use all of her annual leave to be able to train.
The women do intensive 5-7 day jump camps once or twice a week and wind tunnel training one or two days a week.
Anna, an army medic from Colling Bourne Ducis, Wilts, added: 'I'm on the outside at the front so I have to hold onto the outside of the plane whizzing along at 90 miles per hour, it's quite windy out there, you just have to repeat to yourself 'stay strong'.'
Anna started skydiving when she was an army medical student and was inspired by the iconic Point Break scene where Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves free-fall out of a plane for three minutes.
She continued: 'I thought that's cool - I want to do that.'
No stranger to Hollywood glitz and glamour, Sian and Anna worked with Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible 6.